Our Team

Azra Isakovic

Executive Producer/ Founder

Azra Isakovic is a writer, VR producer, and filmmaker. She's a fellow at Oculus' 2018 Launchpad Program. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, she was a refugee in Germany before immigrating to the United States and becoming an American citizen. Her own experience has propelled her to highlight the stories of other immigrants. She holds a political communications degree from the University of Washington. Previously she wrote for Smashd, a publication covering culture, music, and tech where she interviewed musicians, start-ups, and entrepreneurs in the tech industry. She created Project Golden to celebrate the diverse immigrant voices united in their pursuit of the American Dream. This project is a love letter to her own parents and all other parents who have uprooted themselves and made large sacrifices in order for their children to have better lives. It is her goal to tell stories via different mediums in order to spread compassion and bridge the empathy gap. 

Jonas Smensgard

Producer

Jonas Smensgard is an Emmy nominated producer specializing in the creation of VR, AR and Mixed Reality content. He has worked for over 20 years in the film/television industry in the USA, Europe and Asia - always on the hunt for emerging formats and mediums to tell stories in new exciting ways. Together with SY Kim he runs LA-based Onecloud Entertainment with a mission to bring Scandinavian and Asian flare to Hollywood. Born in Sweden, raised in South Africa and having worked in Europe and Asia before immigrating to the USA in 2012, Jonas truly considers himself a world citizen and a believer in building bridges - not walls.

Sabina Vajraca

Director

Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sabina Vajrača immigrated to the U.S. in 1994 as a war refugee. She started her professional career in theatre, writing, directing and producing plays at The Lincoln Center, SITI Company, and Shakespeare & Company. In 2005 Sabina ventured into the world of film by directing and producing the critically acclaimed feature documentary Back to Bosnia. The film premiered at AFI Fest and screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, winning Director’s Choice at the 2006 Crossroads Film Festival. Since then, she wrote, directed and produced short narrative films. Most recently she was selected for the Ryan Murphy’s Half Diversity Directing Mentorship, and was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan production grant for her script Variables. A passionate advocate of women in film, Sabina received numerous awards for her work, including the Cagney & Lacey Fellowship, AAUW Fellowship, FEBA Road Map Award for shaping the women’s role in the society, Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Scholarship, MSN/ Visa Ideas Happen Award, and grants from Jerome Foundation, Puffin Foundation, NYSCA/IFP and LMCC.

Linda Lopez, PhD

Dr. Lopez has more than 20 years of experience in government, academia, non-profit and media relations. She currently serves as the Chief of the Office of Immigrant Affairs and senior policy advisor for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Dr. Lopez was formerly an Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and Diversity for the University of Southern California, a professor of political science at Chapman University, and a senior level executive at the National Science Foundation.

Her government experience spans working with the federal government agencies, state legislatures, and local government. She led and coordinated the establishment of the LA Justice Fund, a $10 million dollar legal defense fund for immigrants.

She regularly speaks at international venues on refugee integration issues and migration. In addition, Dr. Lopez contributes to the following media and print networks:
Los Angeles Times, NPR, KPCC, Telemundo, Univision, NBC Latino, and CNN in Espanol. She was recently selected to join the German Marshall Fund Transatlantic
Leadership Network and is member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. In her spare time, she advocates for special needs children and serves on the board of Villa Esperanza.

Alexandra Ivanovitch, PhD

Alexandra Ivanovitch, PhD is a Franco-American entrepreneur dedicated to leveraging cutting edge technology like virtual reality to reduce implicit biases and facilitate peacemaking.

Former research fellow in Digital Humanities at the Université Paris-Sorbonne, where she used to teach at all undergraduate levels, Dr. Ivanovitch is committed to sharing knowledge with the younger generation and bringing the results of pioneering social neurosciences studies from the lab to the real world.

Former XPRIZE Bold Innovator, she founded a non-profit called Equality Lab: its mission is to develop virtual reality applications to reduce implicit bias and promote equal access to protection, education and healthcare. Equality Lab has recently partnered with the National Police Foundation to develop, test and implement a virtual reality training to reduce bias and use-of-force in police departments.  

Equality Lab’s first funder and supporter is the Roddenberry Foundation. Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek to help us envision a future of inclusion and peaceful cooperation. With Equality Lab, Dr. Ivanovitch is relentlessly working to materialize Star Trek’s ideal before the 23rd century!

Jorge Garrido

Jorge Garrido is a Senior Vice President of Mercury in Los Angeles. He has nearly a decade of experience in government relations and public affairs. At Mercury, Jorge develops and implements full-scale public affairs campaigns for major national and international companies, ranging from blue chip corporations, established technology and financial institutions to hedge funds and private investments firms. Prior to joining Mercury, Jorge provided government affairs and strategic counsel to various public agencies throughout Southern California. He earned a degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mobolaji Olambiwonnu

Mobolaji Olambiwonnu is an award-winning director with his B.A. in Communications from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and M.F.A. from the American Film Institute (AFI's)  directing program. He has held positions as a producer, cameraman and director for such companies/organizations as PBS, LA Metro,  Gehry Partners, Sierra Club, Lion’s Gate, Paramount, Discovery and HBO. Olambiwonnu has also worked in the fields of education, conflict resolution, economic development and campaign organizing. He feels his community-based experience is not only the conscience behind his work, but the driving force behind his filmmaking choices.

Olambiwonnu won 3 Hermes Awards for commercials he directed for the Los Angeles Metro’s new $1.8 billion dollar rail line to the LAX airport and the prestigious Videographer Award for another series of video featuring commissioned Metro artists. He is working on a documentary about Ferguson, Missouri and the killing of Michael Brown Jr.

Olambiwonnu’s goal is to use cinema as a tool to share diverse cultural and political experiences, critique the superficial conditions that divide us, and accentuate the merits of shedding our prejudices.

Mike Fong

Mike serves as Vice President of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of
Trustees. As the largest community college district in the country, the Los Angeles Community College District is comprised of nine colleges serving approximately 250,000 students with a service area of over 800 square miles and over 5 million residents. Mike also serves as the Chair of the Legislative & Public Affairs Committee.
As a lifelong Angeleno, Mike Fong serves as Director of Policy and Government Relations for the City of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. In this role, Mike leads a team of experienced professionals on policy development and government relations for the Department and Neighborhood Councils in empowering and collaborating with Neighborhood Council Board Members, leaders, and stakeholders in improving the lives of residents throughout the City.
Mike worked with the Los Angeles Economic & Workforce Development Department on youth employment and education programs including the Hire LA Summer Youth Employment Program, Cash for College, and the Bank on Los Angeles programs. Mike also audited and monitors various YouthSource Center agencies which help youth pursue educational goals and job training programs.
Mike previously served as the East Area Director for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In this capacity, Mike served as the primary liaison between the Mayor’s office and the dynamic and diverse communities in the Northeast and East areas of Los Angeles. Mike was the Policy Director for Workforce Development in the Mayor’s office and the Senior Liaison to the Asian Pacific Islander community in the City of Los Angeles.
Active in the community, Mike is the past Chair of the PBS Southern California Asian Pacific Islander Community Council. Mike also serves as a Board Member of the White Memorial Medical Center Community Leadership Council. Mike also serves as a Board Member and Immediate Past President of the Los Angeles City Employees Asian American Association. Mike has also served on the UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors and was President of the Asian Pacific Alumni chapter of the UCLA Alumni Association. Mike also was on the founding board of the New Leaders Council Los Angeles chapter.
Mike graduated from California State University at Northridge with a Master of Public
Administration in Public Sector Management & Leadership and from University of California at Los Angeles with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a minor in Education.

David Roberts

David Roberts is a Los Angeles native and has been actively engaged in revitalizing large portions of Los Angeles since the late 1990’s.

He recently served as the Economic Development and Planning Director for Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino where he oversaw projects and policies for the communities of Watts, Harbor Gateway, Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro as well as the Port of Los Angeles. 

David also served as the Associate Director for Local Government Relations at the University of Southern California (USC). At USC, Roberts represented the university with City and County government. He helped to advance university priorities by establishing and maintaining effective relationships with business, non-profit and local community based organizations. Roberts served on the staff of former Los Angeles City Councilmembers Mark Ridley-Thomas and Bernard C.Parks. As Deputy for Economic Development, he focused on policy, land use, finance and development and helped to oversee and entitle more than $4 billion worth of development over a 12 year period highlighted by the Expo Line Light Rail Project, commercial office buildings, parks, libraries, retail, housing and a series of sustainable, LEED certified public infrastructure projects. According to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Councilmember Parks’ 8 th District led the City in job creation in 6 of the 7 years David served as Economic Development Deputy.

Roberts currently owns his own firm, providing Government and Strategic Relations services for his clients. He serves on the non-profit board of directors for Friends of EXPO Center and PV Jobs. 

Brian Cavallaro

Brian is an Emmy and Clio Award winning director that has created branded content for IMG, Go90, Uproxx Media Group, 23andMe and Disney.  He has produced and directed documentary series for Discovery, Fox, The Travel Channel and NBC, as well as environmental documentaries for Al Gore, Mark Cuban, and The Wildlife Alliance, most notably for the documentary “Overfished,” narrated by Daryl Hannah, which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival.

 Within the last year, Brian produced “Those Eyes” starring Ethan Embry.  Wrote, produced and directed the feature film “Against The Night” starring Frank Whaley, and produced the 2017 Tribeca Selection “The Last Movie Star,” starring Burt Reynolds and Ariel Winter, which was released theatrically by A24.  

Leanne Pedante

Leanne Pedante is a graphic designer, engagement artist, and movement professional based in Los Angeles since 2012. She works in connection: connecting people to one another and connecting people to their possibilities and potential.

After finishing her BA in Multimedia Design, Leanne began using her graphic design skills to organize community projects with a particular focus on making art and expression accessible for all. She has organized community art shows on both coasts and internationally online. In 2012, she founded Trade School Los Angeles, a community organization that facilitated peer-to-peer skills classes using barter instead of money. Under Leanne, TSLA hosted hundreds of classes for the public throughout Los Angeles on topics ranging from Tango Dancing to Lamp-Building to Marketing - all without the use of money. A kickboxer, runner, and part-owner of STRIDE fitness studio, she frequently works in fitness contexts, exploring the relationships between physical movement and community engagement.